Seafood, Coffee, and a Lot of Walking in Seattle

We headed out to Pike Place Market, but since we found parking close to where the big malls were, we were sidetracked. I think one of the kids said they needed to go to the washroom. We naturally looked for one in the mall and got stuck there for a couple of hours browsing the shops.

We spent most of our time in specialty boutiques selling local products (highly recommended when you go to Seattle) – coffee, spiced tea, chocolates, goat-milk candies, cheese, beer from microbreweries, wine from Washington vineyards, Pacific Northwest salmon, honey, “Applets and Cotlets” (their iconic fruit and nut candies), honey, organic soap and beauty products, hand-blown glass art, Pacific Northwest Indigenous art and jewelry, and those iconic Pike Place kitchen gear, specifically the vintage flour-sack aprons and towels that are decorated with images of fruits and vegetables.

My husband and I got a gift basket of coffee, tea, and chocolates to give to my cousin’s cousin as a “thank you” present for arranging a luxury rental car for us with all the shebang (for the price of a regular mid-size car). We did not expect that treat, but it was a wonderful surprise when we picked up the car at the airport.

As we were getting hungry, we decided to finally leave the mall and go to the market. We walked along Pine Street all the way to 1^st Avenue, where we turned to reach Pike Street and down to the harbour.

We stopped briefly at the original Starbuck’s Coffee Shop that opened in 1971 and jump-started this North American coffee culture, and my, was it ever a zoo. I was not even able to capture a decent photograph of the façade because of the throng of tourists lining up for coffee and/or taking pictures. It was crazy!

I could understand the picture-taking part, but getting coffee? There was another Starbucks two blocks away and a million other specialty coffee shops around the area. After all, Seattle is synonymous with good coffee…and personally, I find the coffee from the smaller roaster-cafés a lot better than the much-hyped Starbucks.

Along the way, we quickly browsed shops and stalls that piqued our interest – farmer’s stores selling fresh local produce, seafood stands, homemade cheese shops,

chocolateries, a miniature car shop, an old-fashioned candy store, a collectible comic store, a record store, an ice-cream shop, wine stores, cutlery and kitchen shops, art galleries, and other kinds of novelty shops. There were too many things that enticed our senses.

Unfortunately, we were too late for the famous fishmongers, but at that point, our main concern was food. We were bombarded by the sight and smell of goodies from sit-down restaurants to small food stalls. The kids just wanted to sit down and have fries. The adults wanted some seafood. And I wanted an air-conditioned place because the heat was starting to become unbearable.

We chose a seafood place on Western Avenue beside Victor Steinbrueck Park. Cutters Crabhouse is an iconic restaurant in this area that is known for their quarter-century long tradition of serving the freshest Northwest seafood and spectacular panoramic views of the Elliott Bay waterfront from their floor-to-ceiling windows. Indeed, the table given to us and the food did not disappoint. We enjoyed our meal with the calming vista of the verdant park, the blue waters, the mountains in the background, and the steady stream of boats sailing by.

The adults shared appetizer plates of calamari, mussels, stuffed prawns, and crab cakes. My cousin and I each got a bowl of Pacific Northwest clam chowder and an Ahi tuna poke bowl for our mains (the current craze during this time). The healthy bowl came with the freshest slices of Ahi tuna, avocado, sweet onion, and wonton chips flavoured with ginger, garlic, soya, and sesame oil. We also ordered cocktail drinks – different versions of a berry-themed concoction.

My husband ordered grilled salmon and scallops with roasted Yukon potatoes, while my cousin’s hubby enjoyed some steamed snow crab legs and a couple of specialty maki rolls from the bar (fresh yellowtail tuna and smoked wild salmon), which he let us try.

My two nieces settled for fish and chips, while our little boy had the kid-sized grilled sliced steak (and took some salmon from his daddy’s plate). The kids’ meals, of course, came with fries, fresh fruits, drink (apple juice for them), and a chocolate sundae.

We thought we ordered too much, but all that walking made us famished, and we all ended up with clean plates. We, however, skipped dessert, but I bought some coffee from a specialty café nearby (not Starbucks).

To walk off all the food we feasted on, we undertook that long trek from the harbour to the Seattle Space Needle on Broad Street. It was supposed to be a 20-minute walk, but because we were with small kids, it took us half an hour or so. Nobody complained though, because we were sightseeing along the way.

We chose to walk along Second Street, which was lined with interesting boutiques and restaurants. We reached Broad Street in no time. The kids were not keen on going up the Space Needle tower. There was a long line, and they all said they had already visited enough towers in other cities. We were there to see some special exhibitions and they just wanted to go ahead and do those.

My husband and son, both LEGO enthusiasts, had their hearts set on seeing “The Art of the Brick” exhibition at the Pacific Science Centre. It featured an amazing collection of LEGO art by Nathan Sawaya, a renowned American artist who builds custom three-dimensional sculptures and large-scale mosaics from popular everyday items and is best known for his work with standard LEGO building bricks.

The exhibition included recreations of famous artworks, such as paintings and sculptures, but with the use of LEGO in both 2D and 3D. Examples are The Great Wave Off Kanagawa (the iconic Japanese wave painting you often see on Japanese ceramic pieces), The American Gothic, and Michael Angelo’s David. It also featured original mixed-media, performance, and unique art.

The rest of us had planned to go to the Museum of Pop Culture (formerly known as EMP – Experience Music Project Museum) to see a series of exhibits collectively titled, “Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction,” which also included a “Star Trek” exhibition as part of their 50^th anniversary celebration.

Both my husband and my cousin-in-law are avid Trekkies, so I think it is safe to say that this excursion was really for them. The kids were just riding along, and my cousin and I, tagging along.